This dried fruit crumble is prepared as 6 individual mini puddings. The stewed dried fruit is reminiscent of festive sweet mincemeat while the crumble topping is melt-in-the-mouth buttery, crisp and deliciously spiced with Christmas flavours.Enjoy with a drizzle of vegan cream, or hot custard or a scoop of vegan vanilla ice-cream for the best comfort food winter pudding.
6 ramekins [mini pie dishes/soufflé dishes or similar, about 2 inches deep and 3-4 inches wide at the surface]
Mixing bowl
Saucepan
citrus zester or fine grater optional, only required if using fresh orange zest
Ingredients
Filling:
250gramsdried fruit[see notes below]
3tablespoonorange juice[or apple juice, or brandy for festive crumbles] [if using orange zest squeeze the juice out of the orange also]
1wholeorange zest[zest/grate the rind] optional omit if preferred
3tablespoongranulated sugar[or caster, brown sugar etc]
Crumble:
100gramsvegan margarine[such as Stork, or vegan butter]
80gramsdemerara sugar
75gramsself-raising flour
100gramsjumbo rolled oats[porridge oats, use regular porridge oats if preferred]
2teaspoonmixed spice[or apple pie/pumpkin spice or 1 teaspoon cinnamon and 1 teaspoon ginger]
Instructions
Add the dried fruit, orange juice, grated/zested orange rind, sugar and 10 tablespoons of water to a saucepan. [the orange zest is optional, and the orange juice can be shop-bought rather than freshly squeezed from the zested orange]Bring to a simmer and over a medium heat stew for 8-10 minutes. Stir frequently and add extra tablespoons of water if necessary to prevent sticking. Set aside whilst the topping is prepared.
Preheat the oven to 160 Fan / 180 C / 350 Fahrenheit / Gas 4.[the fruit crumbles can be baked in an air-fryer but do have a look at the operating booklet for advice on times, temps, etc]
Add all the crumble ingredients, flour, sugar, mixed spice, margarine, and oats to a mixing bowl and use your fingertips to rub the mixture into clumpy chunky crumbs. Once the crumble can not be easily rubbed but the pieces are still a little large use a cutlery knife to chop briskly through the mixture.
The crumble topping will be more rustic with larger pieces than a regular crumble.
Divide the dried fruit mixture between the ramekins. It may not look like much but it is filling!
Divide the crumble topping between each ramekin.
Bake on the middle shelf for 25 minutes, until the crumble topping is golden and crisp.
Serve hot with vegan cream poured over the top or around the sides.
Notes
Nutritional info is provided for guidance only and is not intended to be an exact calculation as ingredients vary.
Dried fruit crumble is at its best soon after baking.
Although leftover crumble can be left within the baking dishes and covered with food wrap and stored within the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Before reheating remove from the refrigerator and bring up to room temperature so that the dishes do not get shocked at the sudden temp change as they could crack.
Reheat at the baking temperature until warmed through. Cover the tops with kitchen foil if preferred to prevent too much browning of the crisp topping.Add
Or reheat in an air-fryer.
Add extra vegan cream or custard if the crumble dries out a little after reheating.
Leftover crumble can be frozen for up to 3 months. Defrost to room temperature before reheating.
For the 250g of dried fruit I used 50g dried cherries, 50g dried cranberries, 50g currants, 50g raisins and 50g chopped dried dates. Use whatever dried fruits you have available and chop any larger than raisins.
The porridge oats used was Quaker Jumbo Rolled Oats, which provided a tasty rustic crumble as the pieces of oats toasted and were large enough to have a good crunchy texture.
However use ordinary rolled porridge oats if preferred.
Stork baking spread was used for the crumble topping.
If no small citrus squeezer/juicer is available for the orange, then just dig a cutlery spoon firmly into a sliced orange, and move it around and it will remove the juice.